Brooklyn and Beyond: Memoirs of a Chronically Curious Optimist

By Charlie Glaser

From the pastrami-scented sidewalks of Flatbush to the pot plants and hills of California, we delight in stories from the mind of a scientist with the heart of a poet. Chronically curious Charlie—the Bard of Brooklyn—is courageous enough to tackle humanities most challenging questions, such as: “Why did Grandpa hide?”, “When to use the octopus strategy?” and “What is a Jewish Hegira?”

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Aug 19, 2019
• ISBN: 9781728319445

Charlie Glaser

Charlie attended Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn and is a graduate of Brooklyn College. He was awarded his Ph.D in Biochemistry from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn/NYU. Dr. Glaser held post-doctorate fellowships at the Children’s Cancer Research Foundation in Boston and at the University of California at San Francisco. He was a senior researcher of protein chemistry at Berlex Biosciences, and has authored 50+ publications in prestigious scientific journals.

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Copyright © 2019 Charlie Glaser. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 08/15/2019

ISBN: 978-1-7283-1943-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-1945-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-1944-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019909885

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

For my family and

friends who continue to inspire me, and in loving memory of Frances and Lou Glaser, and Rho and Dick Bank, for their ever-encouraging presence in my heart.

I am deeply appreciative of my talented family for their insight and support on this project, and especially of Bobbi, my editor-in-chief.

Bobbi Bank Glaser

Stacy Glaser Johnston

Eric Glaser

Steve Bank

Laurie Talalay

PROLOGUE

I write this book with joy and enthusiasm.

I arrived as a citizen of the earth on February 19, 1943 during World War II, and was raised in Brooklyn, New York as a reform Jew. Although many of the life events, that I grew up with, have made significant contributions to my knowledge and values, I make no attempt to be encyclopedic in my approach to the reader. Rather, I choose to weave a selective collection of stories and poems to create a mosaic of my philosophy of life.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1   HOW I CAME TO BE

Why Did Grandpa Harry Hide?

The Bookie Meets The Butterfly

Breakfast Behavior

My Sister Ellen The Actress

CHAPTER 2   THE EARLY YEARS

The Neighborhood

The Other Side Of The Tracks

Racetrack Remembrances

The Police Caper

History In The Making-Jackie Robinson

#42

CHAPTER 3   SPORTIN’ LIFE

The Pink Spalding Ball

Punch-Ball

Johnny On The Pony

Border Crossing And The Octopus Strategy

CHAPTER 4   BUILDING CONFIDENCE?

Spring Break In Florida

Street Gangs On Skis

Bobbi Comes Into My Life

The Unsuspected Gift Of Humidity

CHAPTER 5   BOBBI TELLS HER STORY

The Children’s Hour

My Summers In The Catskills

Hey Teach…

Real Estate By The Bay

Isn’t It Romantic?

Bobbi’s Vows

To My Mom

CHAPTER 6   REFLECTIONS OF OUR KIDS

My Dachau Experience By Stacy Kim Glaser Johnston

Burning Man: Shedding Light On That Mystical Festival In The Desert By Eric Tad Glaser

CHAPTER 7   AND THE GRANDCHILDREN OF COURSE

Rachel’s Beginnings

Just Getting Started

Snapshot At 10 Months

Josh The Negotiator

CHAPTER 8   FAMILY MATTERS

My Valentine

Misadventures With My Kid Brother-In-Law Steve

The Jewish Hegira

To Mom And Dad

Meeting My First Grandchild And The Fruits Of Justice

Doctor’s Orders

Aunt Lil

A Father’s Fantasy Of His Son’s Sojourn To Europe

CHAPTER 9   ABOUT FRIENDSHIP

Kindergarten And The Immigrant Dream

Chronically Curious

To A New Friend

What Is A Friend?

Friendship Dying

CHAPTER 10   POLITICAL ACTIVISM

Rosa Parks

Church Bombing

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Play

CHAPTER 11   A NEW CHALLENGE

Attitude

First Let Me Be Angry

Coping

CHAPTER 12   THE DEVELOPMENT OF A BIOCHEMIST

Why I Chose Science / Why Science Chose Me

The Molecular Structure Of A Researcher

Post The Six-Day War

Evacuate Immediately

Psychedelics Anyone?

California, Here I Come

Getting Paid As A Scientist

EPILOGUE    RETIREMENT TO REGENERATION

Retirement

MORE POEMS FROM BROOKLYN AND BEYOND

A Piece Of Upper Manhattan

Riverside Park

To Be Or Not To Be

The Setup

Rabin

The Bullet And The Seed

I Watch You, Bobbi

Mario

The Confession

Counterposition

The Center

The Paradox

Close Your Eyes And Imagine

Journey

CHAPTER 1

HOW I CAME TO BE

E ach of us views the world through the culmination of one’s ventures and adventures, conjoined with the biases handed down to us. Therefore it is of value to comment on the generations that preceded us, and this is where I choose to begin.

WHY DID GRANDPA HARRY HIDE?

My maternal grandfather, Harry Slavin, born in the Republic of Latvia, formally part of the disbanded Soviet Union, had attributes which left deep impressions on me. He had little schooling, or money, but a richness of spirit. This allowed him to entertain each day with energy, hope, warmth, and humor. He made my sister Ellen and myself feel that we were significant, in an unobtrusive fashion. He was a man who made his own path, often operating outside the box, as they say in modern parlance.

Grandpa Harry lived in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, near the beach and boardwalk, about five miles from us. My mother recalled that when she was a young girl, Grandpa Harry took to the art of bootlegging, the illegal production of alcohol during the era of prohibition. This served him well, as it brought in some money, until the day when someone must have blown the whistle on him. The police came looking for Grandpa, but he was able to stay out of sight, leaving my Grandma Dora to face the authorities. His reasoning was based on the belief that the police were likely to be more lenient on a mother of six children. His gamble apparently paid off, for no serious charges were made, and all was forgiven within the home.

From time to time, he would come by with his horse-drawn fruit truck, from which he made a modest living. Whenever he visited two of his daughters, Mom and Aunt Lil, the truck was left unattended. The kids would invariably climb on the mobile fruit buffet and help themselves to samples of oranges, apples, and bananas. Grandpa would routinely chase them away, but he would rarely get upset, considering it part of the cost of doing business. It was a big day indeed when he was able to purchase a motorized vehicle, which replaced the literal horsepower. Grandpa Harry, through example, taught me the importance of a close family. He remained a positive influence in my life until he died when I was in my late teens.

THE BOOKIE MEETS THE BUTTERFLY

My mother, Frances Slavin, was born in Connecticut in 1919, however the family moved